Chapter 1093
Bodhi removed his hood, revealing his smooth, s.h.i.+ny head and pearl-like eyes. He looked at his daughter, then at Tianming. "I take it you"re trying to threaten me?" he said, his eyes twitching. His voice sounded as cold as it had back in the Ninefold h.e.l.l.
"It"s a misunderstanding. Little You, explain what"s going on to your dad," Tianming said as he turned to her.
She nodded and briefed her father about the situation, which he quickly processed.
"So you reached the peak of power on the moon in such a short time. You are a terrifying one," Bodhi said. The praise was a sign of his caution.
"Let"s drop pleasantries. Kill Sovereign Xi with me, or at least subdue her. You get your revenge, and I get mine too."
"Then when are you going to let my daughter go?"
"Once the matter’s settled. After that, we can settle things fair and square."
"Can I trust you on that?"
"Yes." Tianming still had the Latticeheart Curse up his sleeves. It was insurance for the grudge Bodhi held against him. He knew there was little chance they could coexist. Even though he would like to, Bodhi wanted him dead, and they wouldn"t be talking to each other like this if not for Sovereign Xi.
"Fine. But you"re a little too naive about your goals."
"How so?"
"I"ve seen her. She"s hiding her real strength. In actuality, she"s past the Orderian Sky level. She"s a level higher than me at the Constellation stage, the second major stage of G.o.dhood. Even if we work together, defeating her is a long shot, and subduing her"s out of the question. Not to mention, this is her turf and she has three hundred thousand ascendants at her disposal."
While Bodhi wanted to kill the sovereign, he was leaning toward a.s.sa.s.sination. As long as Tianming didn"t expose his ident.i.ty, he could continue striking from the shadows. Initially, the two of them had refrained from exposing each other"s origins from the Flameyellow Continent; however, the sovereign had discovered Tianming"s origin of her own accord, while Bodhi remained a mystery.
"Constellation stage...." It wouldn’t be simple after all. In fact, working with Bodhi to take her down now seemed like a pipe dream.
"However, I do have a way to resolve your situation," Bodhi said, looking intently at him.
"Pray tell."
"There"s a woman called the imperial guide. Let"s just say she"s not merely the sovereign"s subordinate."
"Then what is she to her?"
"Even though Sovereign Xi didn"t seem the slightest bit bothered about the death of her parents, there"s no doubt that her relations.h.i.+p with the imperial guide is deeper than that. She sees her as more important than her own life."
"How do you know that?"
"Observation and questioning."
The devil was in the details yet again, and the most devious always knew to exploit them.
"Are you saying that just like how my weakness is the Flameyellow Continent and yours is the Ninefold h.e.l.l, her weakness is the imperial guide?"
"Yes. At the very least, taking the imperial guide captive will force the sovereign to have her troops retreat."
"Then why didn"t you do it yourself?"
"Are you joking? The imperial guide is the second most powerful elite among the divine moonrace. There"s no way I"d be able to capture her alone when I"m only at the same level as her. You"re the one who has to take the risk now, not me. You should make up your mind. I don"t like petty games. This is your problem, but I"ll risk my life for my daughter as long as you return her to me after all is done."
"Alright, let"s do it then," Tianming decided.
"I"ve been observing her over the past ten days. These days, the imperial guide resides at the Moonnight Patio in the north of the city, while the sovereign is at her palace in the south."
"Amazing." Tianming made a mental note to never underestimate Bodhi ever again. He bore the hatred of his kind that had festered over two hundred millennia and would do anything to get his revenge, even resorting to striking from the shadows and creating a nightmarish legend. However, he didn"t know how such a man could look so gentle when he stared at his daughter. When Little You was around, Bodhi was just a normal father, not a murderous demon.
"I love you, daddy," Little You said, not daring to approach as her tears flowed.
"I love you too, Little You." Bodhi"s smile was highlighted by the moonlight.
"Ling"er, stay here and don"t wander," Tianming said.
"Okay." She nodded with a smile. She really wanted to say those three words too, but her finger just turned into ash. She didn"t dare to say anything as she looked at the two grudge-bound men walking out of the compound shoulder to shoulder.
The moon glowed rather brightly today, thanks to the rampant surging of stellunar source, a sign of the impending nova source pulse.
......
"Ugh...."
The wind blew past their ears, bringing with it a rising chill. Jian Xueyi ran and ran before she finally tripped, her face pale as her body s.h.i.+vered, whether from the cold or the sight of the pile of corpses before her. The friends she had cultivated with left this world just like that."Huan... Youran... Chen Feng...." Her tears began flowing. "Tianming... save me..."
Her voice was hoa.r.s.e as she turned herself around and looked up. There was a youth with long, silvery white hair, watching her coldly with sword in hand as if he was looking at an insect. This was a lofty G.o.d! He pointed his sword toward Jian Xueyi.
"You"re the forty-third c.o.c.kroach. You folks are really talented at hiding, you know that?" he said, his lips parting into a vile smile.
Jian Xueyi crawled back hurriedly as she blanked out.
"I"m Huiyue Yu. Do I look like a G.o.d to you?" he asked, descending and slowly pacing toward her with a teasing look.
"You"re nothing but dogs.h.i.+t! Tianming is a real G.o.d, unlike the likes of you!" Jian Xueyi said with all the courage and energy she could muster as her soul shook from the fear.
"Hahahaha... Li Tianming, Li Tianming.... Looks like your relations.h.i.+p with him isn"t simple, given how you refer to him."
"So what? He was my junior a year ago, but now he"s much stronger than me. How could a r.e.t.a.r.d like you compare to him?!" she said, fueled by nothing else but rage.
"Is he really that impressive? Then I"d very much like to see him split himself into tens of thousands of copies to save you. Since you"re special, I"ll take you along with me. I"ll slowly play with you and let you experience the grueling process of your crumbling faith. Don"t thank me. You deserve it."
Jian Xueyi was at a loss for words. She was truly terrified and wanted to kill herself. However, she noticed that she couldn"t even do that. The only thing she could do was talk. The "G.o.d" now stood right in front of her.
"G.o.ds refer to beings that hold the lives of tens of thousands in their hands, got it?"
"You"re wrong! You so-called ‘G.o.ds’ died and fell from the sky like droplets of rain! Only the one who killed your bunch can be called a G.o.d!"
"Tsk tsk tsk...." The thought of the terrifying sight frustrated Huiyue Yu greatly. He used to be a worthy rival, but Tianming was now killing the likes of him by the droves. All he dared to do back then was unleash his totemic calamity from a safe distance, and even then he had almost been killed. His rage knew no bounds.
"I’ll tear off this mouth of yours," he said, squatting down and thrusting his sword into the ground before placing his finger on her mouth.
Jian Xueyi shrieked in terror and despair.
"Enjoy this slowly. This is atonement for his crimes." Huiyue Yu"s father was Huiyue Hai, who had undoubtedly been killed by Tianming. He let his rage consume him as he applied force, causing her to shriek even more.
Right at that instant, a clear sound rang through the air. Jian Xueyi closed her eyes as she continued to scream, but the pain didn"t come. Opening her eyes, she saw blood drip into her mouth. Huiyue Yu"s fingers were still inside it, but the blood had come from his mouth instead.
She turned to look and saw an arrow piercing through his head and out of his mouth. The blood dripped from the tip of the arrow onto her face as she widened her eyes, not daring to make a move.
"Is he dead?" She slapped Huiyue Yu a few times, but there was no response. "d.a.m.n you, you little b.a.s.t.a.r.d! How dare you try to kiss me with your b.l.o.o.d.y mouth? I"ll slap you to death!"
She rained down countless slaps on his face. "Ouch, it hurts.... Why"d your corpse have to harden so quickly?"
Right as she was cursing, a few more arrows whooshed towards them, turning Huiyue Yu into a pincus.h.i.+on. "Enough! He"s already dead! Stop shooting!" Jian Xueyi cried as she pushed the stiff corpse away.
She looked up and saw a red-eyed girl in long black robes. The girl looked back at her and put her bow away, then got back on the back of her black beast and disappeared into the distance. Jian Xueyi recognized her: she was Lin Xiaoxiao.
"We won"t lose...."